To consider the report.

Steve Mappley, Insurance and Risk Manager (RBWM), outlined the above titled report. Members were informed that the report set out how satisfactory risk management was current in place for RBWM as part of its governance arrangements. The report included key strategic risks and how they were monitored and managed and followed up on issues arising from the previous report considered at the meeting on the 20^th September 2018 regarding governance as part of risk management which had been applied to large projects. The Panel were informed that that the report had been discussed with the Corporate Leadership Team(CLT) and that discussions surrounding Brexit had been had frequently. Members were told that operational and strategic risks were reviewed frequently. It was outlined that the reserve position now included a sensitivity analysis which develops the financial bandings from the established risk scoring criteria into three categories, There is then an officer confidence level between 0% and 100% applied to the resulting assessment.

Councillor E Wilson queried how often risks were being reviewed in line with Brexit negotiations and how the financial implications of the matters on the risk register fed into the council’s reserves. He highlighted that as part of the budget report that he had raised the opaqueness of money held in reserves as part of the risk register with the Lead Member for Finance.

Steve Mappley commented that there was currently £11.7m placed in reserves. Rob Stubbs, Head of Finance outlined that one off items were not included in the base budget and that any significant items or amounts would fall under reported figures for next year. It was also highlighted that monies from the Business Rate Retention Pilot and Bad Debt provision had been included. Councillor E Wilson expressed that any money held in reserves was not seen as tangible spending to residents and that Members should be able to explain the linkage to residents back to the budget sheet. Rob Stubbs stated that there was confidence within the CLT that they were prepared for Brexit and that Andy Jeffs, Executive Director (RBWM) and the Performance Manager were currently members on a Berkshire wide Panel with other local authorities and reported back often. Members were informed that funding of £105,000 (2018/19) was available for allocation and £105,000 for 2019/2020 had not been expended as of yet.

Councillor Alexander queried whether waste should be included on the risk register. Steve Mappley stated that the officer who had further insight to the WASTE 0001 entry within the report was not present at the meeting and that there has been an entry for waste within the report for several years.

Councillor Brimacombe stated that he felt the sensitivity analysis was very good and that this promoted dialogue and discussions. He queried whether there had been useful dialogue between senior and junior managers and whether this had been happening frequently. It was confirmed that there had been good discussions but that more were needed and that there was a level of granularity needed. Single value analysis for impact and likelihood has inherent limitations and such assessments ought to be treated with caution. Itwas reported that the confidence levels were working well and that there had been challenges with reduced proximity. Councillor Brimacombe noted that the sensitivity analysis should be dynamic and encourage proactive dialogue between manages and prompt dynamic reassessment where necessary. Steve Mappley confirmed that this was an area that required improvement.

Councillor A Smith commented that it would be more accessible to remove codes from the report and label as appropriate to provide greater transparency to the public. Steve Mappley confirmed that these codes were taken directly from reporting systems and that this was the quickest and most efficient way to create and collate reports.Nevertheless, future such reports to the relevant panel would address this. Councillor E Wilson stated that RBWM had become more focussed on performance management review and that there was a possibility that the Council had measured things that were beyond their role or scope. Members discussed terrorism as a risk that was monitored and it was confirmed that it was on the register and that it was an important area to discuss and remained high in the agenda. Members were informed that David Scott, Head of Communities, Enforcement and Partnerships would be bringing a paper to CLT later this month outlining the progress regarding business continuity arrangements in the event of a crisis.

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Councillor E Wilson queried whether CLT had been looking and reviewing reporting mechanisms. Steve Mappley confirmed that over the last 9 months that there had been a higher engagement with risk/internal audit and that there had been more dialogue around risk. Members were informed that insurance was being reviewed.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That the Audit and Performance Review Panel noted the report and endorsed the approach to managing risk.